The current CBA expires Sept. 15 and Bettman has said the NHL will lock out the players out if a new agreement isn't in place by then.

The league's proposal called for a 50-50 split of revenues in the final three years of the deal. However, Fehr told reporters the players' share would actually be 46 percent when factoring in changes to how hockey-related revenue is calculated. He said it would result in players relinquishing "significantly'' more money in escrow.

"From a players' standpoint, it doesn't make much of a difference," Fehr told the media. "Should the player not get the dollar value that is on his contract because there is a rollback, which is simply a name for crossing out one number and writing in another, or whether he doesn't get an amount because there is escrow, he still doesn't get it.''